Saturday, June 29, 2013

Is "Big Marijuana" Coming to Washington

Jamen Shively is coming…and to most marijuana activists,
this is not necessarily a good thing. Shively is an aspiring pot profiteer who
dreams of building a budding marijuana empire. The 45-year-old Microsoft
manager vowed to raise $10 million quickly to build his marijuana empire and
hopes to turn it into an international powerhouse. He wants his company, Diego
Pellicer, to be world-renowned in marijuana circles and eventually across the
globe.

While Shively has promised a "cautious and
measured" expansion, many marijuana advocates and state regulators are
nervous that he will attract unwanted attention to their new system and create
a backlash across the country. His vision is remarkably similar to "Big
Tobacco" who cashed in for years on American's addictions and abuse. Those
who are in charge of growing Washington's legal marijuana economy are concerned
that this type of profiteering could destroy the legalized marijuana movement
and create havoc for the state.

At the moment, it is still unclear how the federal
government plans to address Washington and Colorado's new pot laws. While the
Justice Department has said that it doesn't intend to prosecute medical
marijuana users, it may go after those individuals (like Shively) who try to
get rich off of commercial sales. They may even sue to block Washington and
Colorado pot growers, processors, and stores.